DETROIT—Michigan law affords broad protection for residents who use firearms to defend their homes. But a jury here Thursday rejected a local man's self-defense argument, finding he committed murder when he shot and killed an unarmed teen on his porch

After about eight hours of deliberation over two days, a racially diverse jury of seven men and five women convicted
Theodore Wafer
of second-degree murder in the death of
Renisha McBride,
a 19-year-old student and auto worker from Detroit.

The 55-year-old homeowner from Dearborn Heights, a Detroit suburb, testified this week that he suspected a break-in when he heard banging on his front and side doors before dawn on Nov. 2. He opened his front door and said he feared for his life when he shot Ms. McBride through the locked screen door as she stood on his porch.

Prosecutors argued the airport worker shot and killed Ms. McBride because he was upset about the early-morning pounding and sought out a confrontation instead of calling authorities.

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The case had raised questions nationwide about whether race played a role. Mr. Wafer is white and Ms. McBride was African-American. The jury also convicted Mr. Wafer of separate charges of manslaughter and using a firearm to commit a felony. He faces up to life in prison on the murder charge at a sentencing hearing scheduled for later this month.

After the verdict was read and the jury was dismissed, Ms. McBride's mother was tearful as she hugged prosecutors and blew them kisses in thanks.

"We knew who she was," Monica McBride told reporters afterward, describing her daughter as "not violent. She was a regular teenager."

The judge ordered bond revoked for Mr. Wafer, who remained calm during the proceeding. His lawyers declined to speak with reporters immediately after the hearing. Jurors were also not immediately available.

Theodore Wafer
Detroit News/Associated Press

Ms. McBride turned up on Mr. Wafer's porch roughly 3½ hours after she crashed her car into a parked car in Detroit, about a half-mile from his house, authorities said. Witnesses said Ms. McBride was disoriented and bleeding, and refused assistance after the car crash. Prosecutors said the injured driver came to Mr. Wafer's home only seeking help. During the police investigation, authorities said Ms. McBride had a blood-alcohol level that exceeded the limit for drivers at the time of her death.

Some civil-rights activists had compared the case with the September death of
Jonathan Ferrell,
a 24-year-old African-American shot by police in Charlotte, N.C., after he crashed his car and apparently sought help from a homeowner who instead called authorities. Others note similarities to the case of
Trayvon Martin,
a 17-year-old African-American shot to death by a Florida neighborhood watchman.

But prosecutors and defense attorneys never argued in court that race played a role in Ms. McBride's death. In a police interview, Mr. Wafer had said he was unsure about the race of the person he shot.

Under Michigan law, there is no duty to retreat in one's home, experts say. Prosecutors in the case argued that someone who claims self-defense must honestly and reasonably believe that he is in imminent danger of either losing his life or suffering great bodily harm, and that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent that harm. Mr. Wafer, prosecutors said, didn't meet that test.